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Finish the Thing

Finishing the thing. Why is that important?

Finish the Thing

There are a good many reasons why Finishing the Thing is important.

For one, being able to call something done can be very relieving. I spent about two years making my first (finished) game. Lemme tell ya, once I was done with that damn thing, the nagging feeling of having something that important to me being incomplete finally went away. It feels terrible to have a project drag on for that long. Getting stuck in development hell sucks.

It can be very satisfying, too. I finally finished my first game! Was it particularly good? Not really. But it was done! Finishing a project can provide closure. This helps with being nimble, too. Say you’re an artist, like me: the more sketches and studies you finish and the more things you learn, the wider your scope of possibilities becomes.

While in the middle of working on a thing, it can be difficult to judge it more objectively. Having the distance of being finished with a project can really help you determine what you can do better the next time around. Did using too many frames of animation on your game cost too much time? Now you know!

Being Nimble

Finishing the Thing, like I mentioned earlier, helps you keep being what I call nimble. Being nimble, to me, means producing more work with less harsh judgments. It’s all about having fun and learning as much as possible. A lot of this involves trusting my gut and going by feel, and then considering the finished piece afterward.

Once I have a finished piece, I can see what I did well and what I didn’t, without feeling obligated to work on that specific sketch (or whatever) again. I don’t like spending a whole lot of time on one thing, if I can help it. I will, however, do multiple iterations of a piece and revisit it later on in some circumstances.

Finishing the thing helps me keep nimble by not leaving me stuck on a piece that just isn’t working, too. Is that scene not working? Throw it out and try again! Is that sketch good but not what I need? Set it aside and do a new one!

I hope this helps you consider some ways to be more fluid with creating. If there’s anything you feel I’ve missed, or you would like to talk about further, feel free to leave a comment!

Also, if you would like to help support my creative pursuits, I do have a Patreon! If you would like to chat with me elsewhere, I also have a Twitter!